Tampa Bay Lightning player Cole Koepke is taking extra precautions after the death of former Pittsburgh Penguins player Adam Johnson. Koepke has decided to start wearing a neck guard to protect himself from being cut by a skate blade.
“I actually knew Adam,” Koepke revealed in an interview with the Associated Press during the Lightning’s morning skate on Monday. “A lot to take in … boom. Shock. Just terrible.”
“It doesn’t bother me to wear the neck guard, so I don’t see a reason not to wear it,” Koepke added. “It just seems like the right thing to do.”
Koepke has become the first Lightning player to wear a neck guard. Although the NHL doesn’t currently require players to wear a neck guard, the 25-year-old believes that more players will choose to wear them in the future.
During the second period of last month’s game between the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers, Johnson was cut by the skate blade of Steelers forward Matt Petgrave after a collision. Johnson received medical treatment on the ice and was transported to a hospital before he was pronounced dead.
The incident was initially described as a “freak accident,” but Petgrave was later arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Petgrave has since been released on bail.
